The Right Way to Cook Rice
Updated: Nov 28, 2018
A meal isn't a meal until you add rice.
The night before I left for college, my parents gave me a silver necklace that had a tiny heart-shaped vial as a pendant. They told me it contained dirt from our backyard, sand from the beach, and a singular Toby hair - because did it even happen if you didn't find one of my dog's hairs stuck in the fibers of your clothes? They wanted me to always feel like I had a piece of my home with me, no matter how far away I would be. And typical me - not knowing how to handle emotions - I just looked at them and said, "We need to add rice."
The Universal Grain
Everyone eats rice. And in my family, when you talk about rice, you talk about love. You talk about community. Both Southern and Filipino cultures revolve around food. The central social events are meals of some kind. If you look at history, both the Southern and Filipino woman would spend the majority of her day cooking for her family. Food is not just sustenance. Food is art. Food is entertainment. And in many cases, I believe food can be the most sincere expression of love.
Like I said, I don't know how to handle emotions and neither do my parents. Whenever couples show any kind of affection, my mom looks at me, scrunches up her face, and says, "Vomit." My dad looks like a straight up Biker Santa Claus and for some people that's awesome and for others that's unsettling. But my parents are the most loving people you will ever meet. And they show it through food.
When I was in high school, my mom would give me an extra serving of whatever I had for lunch because she knew that my friends liked trying the things she made. Legit, I would have, like, two canisters of spaghetti. And then during tech week of drama rehearsals, my parents would pop by with a massive container of Popeye's biscuits or a tray of fruit and cheese. Just two weeks ago I called my parents to vent about whatever stress I was experiencing at the time. And in my tirade, I ranted about how Target didn't have any Pillsbury Halloween Sugar Cookies when we went to buy some. When I got home for Thanksgiving break, there were - no joke - ten boxes of the Pillsbury Christmas cookies chillin' in the fridge.
Yes, There is a Wrong Way
My family pretty much eats rice with every meal. Well, maybe not breakfast... but sometimes breakfast! So because rice is such a big part of our lives, we are incredibly particular about how it is prepared. And we will openly judge you if you cook it incorrectly. So pay attention.
Here are the ground rules:
If it isn't Jasmine rice, throw it out.
If you add salt to the water, throw it out.
If you cook it in the microwave, THROW. IT. OUT.
Rice cookers, while less disgraceful than microwaves, are not accepted. Throw it out.
If you think we're crazy, I mean, yes. Yes we are.
BUT.
There are others!
Exhibit A:
So do us all a favor and just take my advice. Avoid the disdainful gaze of a disappointed Filipino and Biker Santa.
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